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Cubs, Giants, Angels, Tigers Among Teams Interested In Zac Gallen

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TODAY: Both The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale expanded on Feinsand’s link between Gallen and the Cubs, writing that Chicago indeed has interest in the free agent.  Giving up draft compensation to sign Gallen isn’t a deal-breaker for the team, Mooney notes, as the Cubs have shown interest in other players (i.e. Ranger Suarez, Michael King) who rejected qualifying offers.

DECEMBER 5: Right-hander Zac Gallen didn’t have the platform season he envisioned heading into free agency, but the former Cy Young finalist and All-Star nevertheless turned down a qualifying offer from the D-backs and hit the open market last month. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Giants have had conversations with Gallen’s camp (video link). MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand adds the Angels and Tigers to the list of teams with interest in Gallen. He also indicates that the Orioles, Cubs and Braves have at least looked into Gallen. Meanwhile, John Gambadoro of 98.7 Arizona Sports recently suggested a D-backs reunion was unlikely.

Gallen, who turned 30 in August, struggled through four brutal months to begin the 2025 season but ended with a flourish. Through the time of the trade deadline, the right-hander was lugging a 5.60 ERA toward the finish line. That ugly ERA came despite roughly average strikeout and walk rates (22.1% and 8.6%, respectively). He was getting hammered by the long ball, yielding 23 homers in his first 127 frames of the season (1.63 HR/9).

From August onward, Gallen looked more like his typical self. His strikeout rate dipped two percentage points, to a below-average 20.3%, but his walk rate improved to 7.1%. Most importantly, he cut back on the home runs. Gallen yielded just eight round-trippers in his final 65 innings — a rate of 1.11 per nine innings, which falls far more closely in line with his career mark (1.05).

Even with a 3.32 earned run average over his final 11 starts, Gallen closed out the year with an unsightly 4.83 ERA overall. It’s not a strong mark, but Gallen and Boras are surely hoping that track record and impeccable durability will carry his market. Gallen started 33 games in 2025 and is tied with Jose Berrios for the fourth-most starts in MLB (126) dating back to 2022. His 734 innings rank third in the sport during that time, trailing only Logan Webb and Framber Valdez. Gallen has only been on the major league injured list three times in his career — a pair of short stints due to hamstring strains in 2024 and 2021 and a month-long IL stay for a mild elbow sprain back in ’21.

The Giants are a sensible fit. They’re looking for rotation help but not keen on handing out the type of six- and seven-year deals we’ll see for many of the market’s top names. Giants brass has seen him more than most pitchers over the years, as an ultra-durable stalwart in a division rival’s rotation. President of baseball operations Buster Posey even personally faced Gallen eight times, going 2-for-6 with a pair of walks and a home run.

San Francisco has the aforementioned Webb atop the rotation and signed through 2028. No. 2 starter Robbie Ray is signed only through the 2026 season. Right-hander Landen Roupp positioned himself for a rotation spot with a nice showing through 22 starts in his age-26 season. Other candidates at the moment include Hayden Birdsong, Carson Whisenhunt, Blade Tidwell, Kai-Wei Teng, Trevor McDonald and Carson Seymour. It’s a fine collection of depth, but there’s also plenty of uncertainty (hence the focus on rotation upgrades).

Gallen wouldn’t need to be the Giants’ ace but would give them a reliable source of innings and a big track record on which to dream. The Giants’ projected payroll, per RosterResource, is a bit under $169MM. That’s right about the same level at which they opened the 2025 season, but Giants ownership has topped $200MM payrolls in the past — even as recently as 2024. There’s room to add to the budget.

The Angels’ projected payroll is in a near-identical spot to that of the Giants, but the Angels trotted out a $203MM Opening Day mark just this past season. Mike Trout and Yusei Kikuchi are the only players signed beyond the 2026 season, and only Trout is signed beyond 2027.

In Anaheim, Gallen would join a rotation currently fronted by Kikuchi and Jose Soriano. Beyond that duo, the Angels are likely to give former top prospect Reid Detmers, who had a strong season in the bullpen in ’25, another look in the rotation next season. They’ve also acquired Grayson Rodriguez from the Orioles and signed Alek Manoah to a one-year deal this winter. Former top prospect Caden Dana headlines the depth options — a group also including Mitch Farris, Sam Aldegheri, Walbert Urena, Jack Kochanowicz and prospect George Klassen, who has not yet been added to the 40-man roster. There are some talented arms in the mix, but as with the Giants, the Halos simply lack stability behind a pair of generally established veterans atop the rotation.

Over in Detroit, the Tigers have some more stability but less depth. Having the best pitcher on the planet on the roster is a nice start, of course, and the Tigers can follow Tarik Skubal with Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize, Reese Olson and sophomore Troy Melton. Adding Gallen would push Melton to the top depth option, presumably in Triple-A, alongside Keider Montero, Sawyer Gipson-Long, Ty Madden and prospect Jaden Hamm (not yet on the 40-man roster).

The Tigers have one of the cleanest long-term payroll sheets of any club in MLB. Javier Baez’s six-year contract runs through 2027. He and Colt Keith — playing on a six-year, $28.6425MM extension — are the only two players guaranteed anything beyond the 2026 season. Adding Gallen would give the Tigers some 2026 stability and protect them in the event that Skubal, Flaherty and/or Mize all depart in free agency next winter.

The other clubs listed by Feinsand are all known to be in the market for rotation help, too, so none of the bunch is particularly surprising. It’d be out of character for the Braves to sign Gallen, unless his market collapses and he signs a short-term pillow deal (either one year or two years with an opt-out). Atlanta hasn’t given more than $30MM to a free agent starting pitcher under president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos. The Orioles are likely searching for ceiling over stability, so unless they’re confident they can get Gallen back to his 2022-23 form, he’s probably not Plan A or B in Baltimore. The Cubs are already counting on one bounceback from a notable starter (Shota Imanaga), though Gallen fits the spending profile they’ve pursued in offseasons more than the other names at the top of the market.

Even coming off a down year, Gallen will likely find a multi-year pact. Even if he prefers to bet on himself with a shorter-term deal, he’s precisely the type of former All-Star for whom the Boras Corporation has frequently negotiated two-year deals with opt-out pacts. We predicted a four-year deal for Gallen on our annual ranking of the sport’s Top 50 free agents, believing that the market will value his durability and track record enough to get him paid nicely — albeit not to the extent he’d have enjoyed coming off a more typical season. Gallen will presumably be presented a variety of contract structures, many of which will have opt-out opportunities or convoluted multi-year player and club options alike. The deal he ultimately accepts will hinge on his personal level of risk aversion.

Latest On Michael King’s Market

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Michael King is one of the bigger risk-reward plays in the starting pitching class. He’s arguably a top 10 pitcher in MLB when healthy but is coming off a platform season that was wrecked by a nerve injury in his throwing shoulder. He’s also attached to draft compensation after rejecting a qualifying offer from the Padres.

That hasn’t deterred plenty of teams from expressing interest. King was already known to be a target for the Cubs, Tigers and Yankees, while even the Marlins checked in as a long shot suitor. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com and Joel Sherman of The New York Post each write that the Mets are involved. Feinsand adds the Orioles, Angels and incumbent Padres as teams on the periphery of the market. Sherman reports that the Red Sox have also shown interest in the 30-year-old righty.

King converted to the rotation late in the 2023 season as a member of the Yankees. He pitched well enough to stick as a starter after being traded to San Diego as the centerpiece of the Juan Soto deal. King finished seventh in NL Cy Young voting in 2024, pitching to a 2.95 ERA while striking out 201 batters over 31 appearances. He’d pitched even better over the first six weeks of the ’25 campaign. King reeled off 10 starts with a 2.59 earned run average and punching out 28% of opponents before the injury.

Durability is the big question. The shoulder issue wasn’t structural but proved a lot more problematic than initially expected. He wound up missing almost three months and showed signs of rust when he returned late in the season. King gave up 12 runs while tallying all of 17 1/3 innings over five starts in the second half. His velocity was fine but he only managed 12 strikeouts while issuing nine free passes.

King appeared on track for a nine-figure contract amidst his hot start. That’s tougher to envision now, as the 2024 campaign remains the only season in which he has reached even 105 innings. That’s largely because of his usage with the Yankees, but he also missed a couple months in 2021 with a finger injury and suffered a season-ending elbow fracture the following year.

MLBTR predicted King to receive a four-year, $80MM contract. It’s also possible he prefers a two- or three-year deal with an opt-out to get back to free agency next winter. King declined the straight one-year qualifying offer, but a multi-year deal with an out clause would give him a little more security than the QO would have provided. Jeff Passan of ESPN wrote this morning that King is willing to sign for a shorter term than the top free agent arms (e.g. Framber Valdez, Tatsuya Imai, Ranger Suárez). That wouldn’t necessarily rule out a four-year deal, as the best starters are expected to command five or six-year contracts. Dylan Cease already pulled a seven-year guarantee.

The Mets should come away with a mid-rotation or better arm via free agency or trade. They stayed away from the top of the rotation market last winter. That worked out early in the year but collapsed down the stretch. Only the Rockies, Nationals and Angels had a higher second-half ERA from their rotation than the Mets’ 5.31 mark. Nolan McLean looks like a budding frontline starter, but he’s their only pitcher who allowed fewer than 4.20 earned runs per nine after the All-Star Break.

Baltimore, Boston, San Diego and the Angels have all been in the rotation market. The Red Sox should probably focus elsewhere after acquiring Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo in trade. The Angels have landed a pair of starters this offseason as well, but Grayson Rodriguez and Alek Manoah both have significant health questions. They still need a starter and are also in the mix for Zac Gallen. The O’s are involved on Valdez and Suárez; no pitcher seems to be off the table for them. The Padres are unlikely to spend what it’d take to bring King back, though they’ll need multiple rotation adds after also losing Cease to free agency and Yu Darvish to elbow surgery.

Giants To Hire Ron Washington As Infield Coach

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The Giants are hiring former Rangers/Angels manager and former Athletics/Braves coach Ron Washington as their infield coach for the upcoming season, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports.

Washington, 73, was a first base coach, third base coach and infield coach with the Athletics from 1996 to 2006. He left the A’s for an eight-year stint as the manager for the division-rival Rangers, guiding Texas to consecutive World Series appearances in 2010-11 — though the Rangers ultimately fell short in both instances. The Giants won a 4-1 World Series in 2010, and Washington’s Rangers fell to the Cardinals in a seven-game classic in 2011. One of the key factors in that 2010 World Series was then-rookie catcher Buster Posey, who’s now San Francisco’s president of baseball operations.

After his run as the Rangers’ skipper, Washington returned to Oakland for the 2015-16 seasons, stepping back into his old role of third base coach. The Braves interviewed Washington for their managerial vacancy in the 2016-17 offseason and were impressed enough to hire Washington to the coaching staff despite ultimately giving the skipper’s role to Brian Snitker. Washington spent seven seasons in Atlanta as third base and infield coach, winning a World Series ring in 2021, before being hired as the new Angels manager in the 2023-24 offseason.

Washington’s time in Anaheim would only last one-plus seasons. The 2024 Halos lost 99 games and finished in last place in the AL West. In 2025, Washington only managed 74 of the team’s 162 games. He stepped away from the club due to health reasons in mid-June and revealed a couple months later that he’d undergone a quadruple bypass procedure. Bench coach Ray Montgomery took over for him on an interim basis. Washington had said he hoped to return to his managerial post with the Angels in 2026, but the team opted to make a change and hire someone from the opposite end of the experience spectrum: former big league catcher Kurt Suzuki, who’ll be in his first year as a coach or manager next season.

This will be Washington’s 21st overall as a major league coach. Add in his decade of managerial experience, and Washington has spent more than 30 years as one of the game’s most respected coaching/managerial minds. He’ll inherit a pair of talented defenders on the left side of the infield in Matt Chapman and Willy Adames, but Washington will be a vital piece of the puzzle as the Giants continue familiarizing Rafael Devers and young slugger Bryce Eldridge with the intricacies of first base. He’ll also give new skipper Tony Vitello an experienced ear on which to rely as he makes the transition from college ball to managing at the professional level.

Angels Sign Alek Manoah To Major League Deal

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The Angels announced they have signed right-hander Alek Manoah to a major league deal. Jeff Passan of ESPN previously reported the agreement and that Manoah will make $1.95MM next year. The Halos had multiple 40-man vacancies and didn’t need to make a corresponding move for the Covenant Sports Group client.

It’s a clear buy-low move for the Angels. Manoah was once a first round pick and top prospect, then became a Cy Young candidate as of a few years ago. But more recently, injuries and underperformance bumped his stock to the point that he was non-tendered by Atlanta last month.

The Blue Jays selected Manoah 11th overall in 2019. By 2021, he was making big league starts. He took the ball 20 times that year and threw 111 2/3 innings, allowing 3.22 earned runs per nine. His 8.7% walk rate was around average while his 27.7% strikeout rate was quite strong. 2022 was his first full season. He made 31 starts and logged 196 2/3 innings with a 2.24 ERA. His strikeout rate dropped to 22.9% but he also improved his walk rate to a 6.5% clip. He finished third in American League Cy Young voting behind Justin Verlander and Dylan Cease.

It’s basically been downhill since then. He struggled badly enough in 2023 to get optioned to the minors multiple times. He finished the year with a 5.87 ERA over 19 starts. His strikeouts dipped to a subpar 19% rate while his walk rate climbed to an ugly 14.2% pace.

Going into 2024, the Jays reportedly had some openness to trading Manoah, with the Angels checking in on him at that time. However, the Jays didn’t pull the trigger on a deal and he opened the 2024 season with Toronto. He was slowed by some shoulder soreness during the spring and began the season on the injured list. He was reinstated in May and then made five decent starts, with a 3.70 ERA, 25.2% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate. However, he then went back on the IL, this time due to an elbow sprain. He required Tommy John surgery in June of that year.

Manoah then spent the rest of that season on the IL. The Jays held him on the roster through the winter and tendered him a contract. They avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $2.2MM salary for 2025.  They then put him back on the 60-day IL in March. He began a rehab assignment in July. Rehab assignments normally are capped at 30 days for pitchers but guys recovering from Tommy John can push that to 60.

By the middle of September, Manoah’s clock was up but the Jays had a rotation featuring Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Chris Bassitt, José Berríos and Max Scherzer, with Trey Yesavage lurking in Triple-A. Manoah also hadn’t done much to force the issue, as he had a 19.6% strikeout rate and 12.8% walk rate during his rehab outings. He was reinstated from the IL but optioned to Triple-A Buffalo.

Later that month, the Jays needed a 40-man spot to reinstate Anthony Santander from the 60-day IL. Manoah was designated for assignment as the corresponding move. With the trade deadline having passed, the Jays had to put him on waivers, with Atlanta claiming him. They held him on their roster for a while but then non-tendered him. It might seem a bit odd to claim a player off waivers and then cut him shortly thereafter. Speculatively speaking, it’s possible Atlanta tried to sign him for 2026 but then non-tendered him when they couldn’t agree on the price point.

For the Halos, it’s a low-cost bet on a bounceback. The salary isn’t much beyond the league minimum, which will be $780K next year. Manoah also still has options, so it’s possible he could be pitching in Triple-A as depth.

Pitching has been a weakness for the club for quite a while and 2025 was no exception. The staff as a whole had a 4.89 ERA this year, putting them ahead of just the Rockies and Nationals. That includes a 4.91 ERA from the rotation, again ahead of just Washington and Colorado. Tyler Anderson became a free agent at season’s end, thinning out the group even more.

Going into 2026, there is very little certainty in the rotation group. Yusei Kikuchi and José Soriano have two spots spoken for. Reid Detmers seems like he’ll get a chance to return to the rotation but he’s a big question mark after struggling in 2024 and then pitching out of the bullpen in 2025. There are a few other guys in the mix, such as Jack Kochanowicz, Caden Dana and Sam Aldegheri, though those guys have fairly mixed track records.

Since the offseason has begun, this is the second time the Angels have bought low on a former big name. A couple of weeks ago, they traded Taylor Ward to the Orioles in order to nab Grayson Rodriguez. It’s a somewhat similar situation to Manoah, as Rodriguez was the 11th overall pick in 2018 but has seen his career thrown off course by injuries. Perhaps the Angels will make more of a surefire rotation addition later in the winter but they have stuck with the less certain guys so far.

It’s hard to know what to expect from Manoah now. It’s been a few years since he was both healthy and effective. He was averaging just 91 miles per hour on his fastball in Triple-A this year. That’s almost three ticks below his 2022 season, when he averaged 93.9 mph. Perhaps being further removed from his surgery will allow him to find a new gear. If not, the Angels won’t have lost much. If it works out, Manoah will finish the 2026 season with less than six years of service, so he could be retained via arbitration for the 2027 season.

Photos courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images

Angels Re-Sign Gustavo Campero To Minor League Deal

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The Angels have re-signed outfielder Gustavo Campero to a minor league deal, according to the transactions tracker on Campero’s MLB.com profile page.

Campero, 28, signed with the Yankees out of Colombia back in 2017. He was selected by the Angels in the minor league phase of the 2020 Rule 5 Draft and joined the organization for the 2021 season. He’s played for the Angels exclusively in the half decade since then, gradually climbing the minor league ladder before reaching the majors for a brief cup of coffee in 2024. Campero has served as a reserve outfielder for the Angels in each of the past two seasons, hitting .202/.272/.346 across 41 games and 114 plate appearances, but was non-tendered by Anaheim earlier this month.

He now returns to the club on a minor league pact as a non-roster depth piece. Following the trade that sent Taylor Ward to Baltimore in exchange for Grayson Rodriguez, the Angels lack much certainty in their outfield. Jo Adell, Jorge Soler, and Mike Trout appear likely to split the outfield corners and DH between themselves next year, but that leaves a hole in center that would likely be filled by Bryce Teodosio and Kyren Paris if the season began today. An external addition seems likely, with players like Cody Bellinger and Cedric Mullins standing out as obvious fits in free agency, but the team would likely remain thin on outfield depth even after making that sort of addition.

That’s because Soler and Trout both battled injuries throughout the 2025 season and have checkered injury histories that make it hard to pencil either one in for anything close to 162 games next year. Adell, for his part, hasn’t faced significant injury woes over the years but just enjoyed his first above average season by wRC+ in 2025. That leaves the possibility of regression on the table, and having more outfield depth could help the Angels protect against both a step back from Adell and injuries to Soler and Trout.

Campero figures to be part of that depth, though the career .311/.394/.440 hitter across two seasons at Triple-A has not yet proven himself a capable hitter at the big league level. While pieces like Campero and Teodosio are decent enough depth options, it seems sensible to expect the Angels to continue searching for additional depth for their outfield mix as the winter progresses. That could come with a particular focus on left-handed bats; Campero and Teodosio are both switch-hitters, but Adell, Trout, and Soler are all right-handed bats and could certainly use a left-handed complement in the outfield.

Angels, Anthony Rendon Discussing Contract Buyout With Rendon Expected To Retire

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The Angels and third baseman Anthony Rendon are discussing a buyout plan with Rendon expected to retire, reports Alden González of ESPN. Rendon’s seven-year, $245MM deal still has one year and $38MM remaining.

Rendon’s deal has been a punchline for a long time now and will certainly go down as one of the biggest busts of this era, perhaps even of all time. The Angels have gotten almost no return on their massive investment. Rendon was still a very good player in the first year of the pact, but that happened to be the 202o season, which was shortened to just 60 games on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, Rendon has been largely injured. Even when he has been able to take the field, he hasn’t been terribly useful.

When the deal was signed, Rendon was coming off an excellent stretch with the Nationals. From 2013 to 2019, he slashed .290/.369/.490 for a wRC+ of 128. He dabbled at second base but mostly provided strong defense at third. He had a well-timed career year in 2019, though that year would later become infamous for its juiced balls. His 34 home runs were a career high. He slashed .319/.412/.598 for a wRC+ of 155. He hit .328/.413/.590 in the postseason, helping the Nats win their first ever World Series title.

It was then that the Rendon headed to California. As mentioned, he was still quite good in his first season as an Angel. He played in 52 of the club’s 60 games, hitting nine home runs. His 16.4% walk rate was a few ticks higher than his 13.4% strikeout rate. He hit .286/.418/.497 for a 152 wRC+. FanGraphs credited him with 2.5 wins above replacement in that truncated campaign.

But in the five seasons since, mounting injuries have prevented from doing much of anything. From 2021 to 2024, he finished each season with between 43 and 58 appearances. He had stints on the injured list due to a left groin strain, a left knee contusion, a left hamstring strain, a right hip impingement, right wrist inflammation, right wrist surgery, another left groin strain, a left wrist contusion, a left shin contusion, a left hip impingement, a left hamstring strain, low back inflammation and a left oblique strain. He hit .231/.329/.336 for an 89 wRC+ over those seasons. In February of 2025, he underwent left hip surgery and eventually missed the entire season.

A lengthy injury history may be out of a player’s control but Rendon has been followed by questions about his attitude and commitment. Back in 2014, he said he doesn’t watch baseball because it’s “too long and boring,” per Jason Butt of The Washington Post. In 2022, he got a five-game suspension for getting involved in a brawl with the Mariners, even though he was on the IL recovering from wrist surgery at the time. Early in the 2023 season, he received another suspension for an altercation with an Athletics fan, which was caught on video. Rendon grabbed the fan’s shirt, cursed at him and swiped at him. In January of 2024, on the Jack Vita Show, he said the baseball season was too long and needed to be shortened.

Shortly thereafter, as rounded up by Sam Blum of The Athletic, Rendon was asked about these concerns. “It’s never been a top priority for me,” Rendon said of baseball. “This is a job. I do this to make a living. My faith, my family come first before this job.” He seemed to take umbrage with reporters for continuing to question him on the subject. “I have answered your question,” he said. “So why do keep picking at it?”

The combination of Rendon’s contract, his injury absences and his reputation have made him a frequent target for criticism from fans. The money owed to him has also been an obvious obstacle for the Angels, who have had a decent chunk of their payroll tied up in one rarely-available player. Despite having Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Rendon on the roster for many years, the Angels haven’t been a serious contender in a long time.

If some kind of buyout arrangement can be worked out, it could work for both sides. Rendon could walk away from the game after years of injuries, including a 2025 lost to hip surgery, as opposed to trying to get back into game shape. The Angels could open up some more payroll flexibility for the 2026 season.

As it currently stands, RosterResource has them slated for a $166MM payroll, with Rendon taking up almost a quarter of that. They are looking to bolster the pitching staff and their lineup ahead of next season. Speculatively speaking, a plan could perhaps be worked out which defers Rendon’s 2026 salary so he gets paid in the long run but the Angels have more near-term ability to spend on other players. Time will tell how the chips fall on that.

Assuming Rendon doesn’t play another major league game, he will retire with 5,022 plate appearances over 1,173 games. He notched 1,218 hits, including 295 doubles, 16 triples and 158 home runs. He scored 683 runs, drove in 671 and stole 55 bases. FanGraphs credits him with 33.8 wins above replacement and Baseball Reference 34.2. MLBTR salutes him on his accomplishments and wishes him the best in his non-baseball life.

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Dyer, Tommy Gilligan, Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images

MLBTR Podcast: Some “Classic Baseball Trades,” Nimmo For Semien, And Ward For Rodriguez

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

  • Offseason Preview Megapod: Top 50 Free Agents – listen here
  • Surprising Option Decisions, Qualifying Offers, And Paul DePodesta – listen here
  • Offseason Preview Megapod: Top Trade Candidates – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images

Angels Notes: Ward, Rodriguez, Bellinger

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The Angels’ trade of outfielder Taylor Ward for right-hander Grayson Rodriguez stands as one of the most notable and most surprising deals of the young offseason. The swap caught Ward himself off guard, as he told Sam Blum of The Athletic, but the outfielder expressed gratitude to the Halos and had nothing but good things to say about his experience with the organization. Ward is a free agent after the season, and he noted to Blum that he’d be open to re-signing in Anaheim if the team shows interest next winter — though obviously a lot can happen between now and then. Said Ward:

“I had a wonderful time being in Anaheim, playing in Anaheim, getting to know the guys and getting to play next to Hall of Fame players too. I’m just very thankful for that time period, and it’s something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.”

General manager Perry Minasian said after the trade that he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add four years of a viable rotation arm in exchange for one year of Ward, even if there’s severe injury risk with Rodriguez, who hasn’t pitched since July 2024. Via Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, Minasian called Rodriguez “a gamble worth taking” and noted that when healthy, the former first-round pick and top prospect “can beat anybody on any given night.”

For the 2026 season, Rodriguez will surely be on some form of innings limit. Between that and the general uncertainty behind Yusei Kikuchi and Jose Soriano in the rotation, the Angels remain in the market for further starting pitching upgrades. They’re also known to be on the hunt for help at third base and in center field. Whatever additions are (or aren’t) made in the outfield will impact any chances of the return referenced by Ward. Jorge Soler is a free agent next offseason. Jo Adell is under club control through 2027.

The free agent market is thin on center fielders, but Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that the Angels have at least checked in on the top name available: Cody Bellinger. Given the Halos’ need in center, it’s only natural that they’d perform some due diligence. (It’d almost be more noteworthy to hear that they weren’t planning to at least gauge the price on Bellinger.) Heyman notes that a match between the two parties is viewed as a long shot, which shouldn’t come as a great surprise. Bellinger figures to finally command a nine-figure deal in free agency, likely for five or even six years.

While the Angels have the payroll capacity to make that type of addition — Mike Trout is the only player guaranteed anything beyond the 2027 season — it’s an open question as to whether Bellinger can truly be considered an everyday center fielder anymore. He hasn’t played the position on a full-time basis since 2022 and logged only 306 innings there with the Yankees in 2025.

Bellinger’s sprint speed hasn’t really dipped since that time, but Bellinger still has drawn negative grades from Defensive Runs Saved (-4) and Statcast (-1 OAA) in just over 700 innings of center field work across the past two seasons. He’d certainly be better there than Adell was when forced into the position in ’25 (-13 DRS, -8 OAA), but Bellinger will draw significant interest from contenders who are a cleaner fit — the Yankees certainly among them. After playing on teams with clear postseason aspirations throughout his entire career, he may also be skeptical of joining an Angels club that’s a long shot to contend.

Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images

Grayson Rodriguez Provides Health Update

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Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez said in an interview on the show Foul Territory that he’s “throwing and feeling good” following August surgery to remove bone spurs in his elbow (h/t Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner for reporting on Rodriguez’s comments). The newly minted Angel added that he considered surgery in Spring Training, but decided against it, only for the discomfort to become unbearable. “It got to a point where I was like, ‘I can’t take it.’”

Rodriguez has battled injuries for the majority of his career. He missed the entire 2025 campaign with shoulder and lat issues. He was sidelined for part of the 2024 season with a shoulder injury. A lat strain capped Rodriguez at 17 starts in 2022 and likely pushed his MLB debut back a season.

According to Rodriguez, the bone spurs have been an issue for quite some time. “They’ve been in there for three or four years. This is something that I’ve dealt with for a while, ever since I was in Double-A, Triple-A.” The righty added that the bone spurs seemed to have led to the recurring lat problems, as the muscle was working harder to slow his arm after releasing each pitch.

Los Angeles is betting on better health for Rodriguez. The Angels landed the talented righty in a straight swap for outfielder Taylor Ward earlier this week. Ward is coming off a career-best 36-homer season. He’s been a mainstay in the middle of LA’s lineup for the past four seasons. Ward will be a free agent after 2026, while Rodriguez is under team control through 2029. The trade helped the Angels free up some capital, as Ward is projected to earn $13.7MM in his last year of arbitration.

Rodriguez said he was caught off guard by the move, but is “pumped” to head to his new team. “I didn’t think the Orioles would trade me. But, obviously, the Angels wanted me bad enough, and it’s kind of a cool feeling.”

If the bone spur removal gets Rodriguez back on track from a health perspective, Los Angeles could have their ace of the future. The 26-year-old is just a few years removed from being the top pitching prospect in the league. After scuffling in his first taste of big-league action, he put together a 13-start stretch with a 2.58 ERA to close his rookie season. Rodriguez was on his way to a breakout 2024 before the shoulder injury cut his season short. The righty improved his strikeout rate to 26.5% while cutting his hard-hit rate by 4%. His xFIP (3.57) and SIERA (3.61) backed up his 3.86 ERA.

Rodriguez’s health update is in line with the info relayed by Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias back in September. The executive told reporters that Rodriguez was on track for 2026 Spring Training.

If the righty is indeed good to go for the spring, it’ll mark the first time he’s pitched competitively since July 2024. Rodriguez’s velocity will be important to monitor once he gets back on the mound. He averaged 97.4 mph on his fastball in his rookie season, but that number fell to 96.1 mph in 2024. Rodriguez’s arsenal will also be something to keep an eye on. He threw six different pitches in 2023, but trimmed that to four pitches the following season. Rodriguez ditched the cutter and sweeper in 2024, while throwing the curveball a bit harder and the slider slightly softer.

Rodriguez will slot in behind Yusei Kikuchi and Jose Soriano for the Angels. While Rodriguez’s health will be a main focus, there are plenty more questions to be answered in the rotation. Reid Detmers seems like he’ll get another shot as a starter after putting together a strong season out of the bullpen. Caden Dana and Mitch Farris closed 2025 in the rotation and are candidates for spots, though both had ERAs over 6.00 last year. Prospects George Klassen and Samuel Aldegheri, acquired from the Phillies in the Carlos Estevez trade, could also factor into the equation.

Photo courtesy of Tommy Gilligan, Imagn Images

Angels Hire Brady Anderson As Hitting Coach

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The Angels are hiring Brady Anderson as hitting coach and John Mabry as an assistant hitting coach, relays Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register. A three-time All-Star who played 15 seasons in the majors, Anderson gets his first major league coaching position.

Anderson, 61, spent 14 years with the Orioles. He’s best known for his 50-homer season in 1996 but was consistently a very good player from 1992-99. He hit 210 career homers with a .256/.362/.425 batting line in more than 1800 games. Anderson recorded 1661 hits and stole 315 bases.

A little over a decade after his playing career concluded, Anderson was hired as Baltimore’s vice president of baseball operations. He held that position from 2013-19 until stepping down after one season under Mike Elias. Anderson had played a significant front office role under prior GM Dan Duquette but reportedly had a different vision from the one Elias brought to the front office. Anderson has not worked in affiliated ball since moving on from the Orioles.

That makes it important to have an experienced voice as his assistant. The 55-year-old Mabry certainly qualifies. He has worked on MLB staffs dating back to 2012 after a 14-year big league playing career. Mabry has been a lead hitting coach with the Cardinals and Marlins and spent the ’25 season on Brandon Hyde’s staff in Baltimore as a senior advisor.

Anderson and Mabry will work with an offense that finished 25th in scoring this year. The Halos had an MLB-high 27.1% strikeout rate and a .225 batting average that was worst in the league. Their .298 on-base percentage was better only than those of the Rockies and Guardians, while they were middle of the pack in slugging. The Angels had the fourth-most home runs in MLB — trailing only the Yankees, Dodgers and Mariners — but were too reliant on right-handed power bats with limited on-base skills. They traded Taylor Ward, who’s coming off a career-high 36 home runs, to roll the dice on a Grayson Rodriguez upside play in the rotation.

Kurt Suzuki is headed into his first season as a big league manager. They’ve added veteran pitching coach Mike Maddux and former manager John Gibbons as bench coach. Base coaches Adam Eaton and Keith Johnson, catching coach Max Stassi, and infield coach Andy Schatzley have also signed on. The Angels have yet to finalize the staff.

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